We have grown up in the 'Industrial Age' that has given so many goodies and perks for the human species that it was hard to criticise it or even see objectively when it comes to sustainability. But now the cracks of complete systemic collapse are all over but it may still not be too late if we recognise the flaw in the Industrial paradigm.

The Industrial paradigm has 2 main pitfalls.  One is the deviation from nature in fundamental outlook - in other words science and technology can improve on poor old mother nature.  And secondly it is all about 'growth' and 'profit'.

To understand the first it best to read the thoughts and efforts of Masanobu Fukuoka ( I have given link below on his biography etc but read his books).

As for the second, even a child knows that infinite growth is impossible and undesirable. Yet our mainstream economics talks about steady 7% growth. Scary idea. An fixed arithmetic growth is actually exponential as it compounds over time and leads to an exponential consumption of resources.    Take a primer at Professor Bartlett's Site. Yet the market cheers when growth is up and mourns when it is down.  How strange!   Even stranger is that we talk about sustainability in the same breath as infinite growth and use phrases of contrary terms like 'sustainable growth'.  Insane!  Here are some links that prepare you for what is trully meant by sustainability.

Friends of Narmada - The most comprehensive site of the epic battle against large dams by the Narmada Bachao Andolan led by Medha Patkar. This website is not just about a Large Dam and the poor helpless people displaced etc, but it epitomises just about everything that human beings are doing wrong. This is reflected in the kind of thinking highlighted in the next 2 web sites below. I list this website first because getting aware and being involved in the Narmada issue and struggle awakened me to the other side of development and made me deeply question the main-stream and industrial paradigm.

Tarun Bharat Sangh Home Page - organisation setup by Rajender Singh who has done pioneering work in Water Harvesting and revival of underground water sources and rivers in Rajasthan. I have made the link to Rajender Singh’s profile withing that site as it gives a good idea to this kind of work he has done.

The Humanure Handbook - The bible for people who have often wondered why human beings ‘do their do’ in gallons of drinking water!!! That is exactly what we do. Very interesting and eye opening book on one of the most fundamental kinks of our species.  To read more completely about what the author Joseph Jenkins is all about go to his website at Joseph Jenkins Inc.

Masanobu Fukuoka - The man who in a slim and efficient book 'One Straw Revolution', put the truth of nature's rules for all of us.  Winner of Magasay Award

Dismantle Civilisation - This blog hopes to pull together many diverging strands of information, to illustrate that the problem lies not with any one simple factor, but with the whole culture that we call civilisation. The way we have been raised to view humans as superior and seperate to nature, and hence how we behave in relation to our surroundings is ultimately the problem.

Primitivism - Primitivism is the pursuit of ways of life running counter to the development of technology, its alienating antecedents, and the ensemble of changes wrought by both. This site is an exploration into primitivist theory, as well as various works that contribute to an understanding of the tendency.

Rainwater Club - based in Bangalore are into rainwater harvesting design and treatment of grey water. These are principals that we definitely want to incorporate at Acres Wild if we want it to be gentle on the environment and a sustainable farm and farmstay.

Journey to Forever - A unique site with lots of free online books about all the relevant issues connected with soil and sustainability. Find it here in the Small Farms Library Section

Article from ‘The Farm’ - This piece of writing is so heart-wrenching, because of its honesty and conscious effort at lack of bias, that I had to put it here. It is about a place called ‘The Farm’ that was started as a self-sustaining community and farmstay in the US and its final fate. Scary and tragic stuff but you have to read it even if you are planning idealistic stuff like Acres Wild. In fact all the more why one should read it. The return to basics is not easy at all. Actually this is the web link to The Farm.

Some Ideas for Unconventional Living - a page from a site called Unconventional Ideas. Really a great collection of simple thoughts on this page about what we really need to be doing in the face of Peak Oil and what not. You will find other lovely yet simple essays about all the things we have forgotten.

In Context - A Quarterly of Humane Sustainable Culture. Very well written and positive articles on aspects on how to achive sustainability in the context of our modern lives. Their approach is solution-oriented rather than problem focused. I suggest you follow this link to their free back issues to read their articles.

International Rivers Network (IRN) - protects rivers and defends the rights of communities that depend on them. IRN opposes destructive dams and the development model they advance, and encourages better ways of meeting people’s needs for water, energy and protection from damaging floods.

Organic Pastures - A site about a family-run farm in California that keeps loads of cows and re-educates us about the virtues of drinking raw milk. Kind of puts in perspective why pasteurisation ever happened and why it is damaging. It kills all the bacteria and a lot of other good stuff and generates histamines that cause a number of allergies to milk.

Soil and Health - A good source for free books online and some to download on agriculture and health issues. You can find 'One Straw Revolution' by Masanobu Fukuoka online here to read too.

The Complete Site on Gandhi - thats exactly what it is. Good time to take a look at the guy who said it all but we decided that modern economics and the super-malls were a better choice. Anyway I don’t mean to reduce his thinking to just an explanation of that - it is much more and we all know it.

Vidhya Ashram - I read a book called ‘ Gandhi’s Challenge to Modern Science’ (Other India Press), that struck some deep chords in my mind on ideas that were dormant and so I did not really realise they were there. Namely - the follies of western scientific thinking starting with its logic therefore that kind of science and technology that is proving disastrous to the world at large. This inspired me to send an email to the writer of the book, Sunil Sahasrabudhey who lives in Varanasi and so I went there to meet him. It started a lovely dialogue and relationship on all kinds of ponderings. Vidhya Ashram is a unique institution started by him and others. It is best understood by visiting the web page.

Come to your Senses - That is where it all was. Lose your mind and Come to your Senses - strangely when we say ‘come to your senses’ today we mean the thinking part - the what we call ‘Common Sense’ part. The thinking part.. In todays context when we mainly live in our minds and our new found awareness of the ‘old or primitive’, the phrase takes on a new meaning - or did I mean the actual ‘old’ meaning……….. Anyway also a great site to learn some very valuable ‘Primitive Skills’ like making a fire (easy?), how to make cordage (rope!) and what not. Maybe very useful in times to come.

Healing Daily - focuses on self-care, natural health and wellness, body detoxification, colon cleansing, oral chelation, removal of toxins from the body, liver detoxification, internal cleansing, heavy metal detoxification, healing naturally and alternative approaches to achieving health. Learn how to take responsibility for your health today.

Green Cross Society - "The sewage system was designed by a plumber and improved by hydraulic engineers. Today, it needs to be urgently worked out with the input of a microbiologist too. It cannot be left to an engineering department.". This is a core thought of Shantharam Shenai, who is popularly known in and around Mumbai as the “Garbage Guru,” is successfully demonstrating “earthworm technology” for recycling and sustainable ecological re-development. Shantharam is demonstrating how deep burrowing earthworms are capable of replacing soil in one year that would take 200 years to re-generate naturally. His idea is to use these earthworms to convert all forms of wasted organic matter into usable bio-fertilizer or multi-purpose sanitation products. Check out this deeply passhionate and enlightened site on some of the curses of our times - waste and sanitation - especially urban sanitation.

Waste to Health - Mr. Bhawalkar graduated in Chemical Engineering, IIT Bombay 1973. Here he gives a lot of practical info on his work away from chemical fertilisers and towards natures way like working with organic waster and earthworms, nature's farmer as well as composter.